The Song of La Palice"The Song of La Palice" (in French: La chanson de la Palisse) is a burlesque song attributed to Bernard de la Monnoye (1641–1728) about alleged feats of French nobleman and military leader Jacques de la Palice (1470–1525). From that song came the French term lapalissade meaning an utterly obvious truth—i.e. a truism or tautology. When you say something obvious, the interlocutor responds '"So would have said La Palice!" (in French: La Palice en aurait dit autant!).
Hamza Ben Driss OttmaniHamza Ben Driss Ottmani (10 May 1940 – 30 May 2012) was a Moroccan engineer, economist and writer. Aerospace engineer graduate from École nationale de l'aviation civile (the French civil aviation university ; promotion 1963) and economist graduate from ENSAE ParisTech (promotion 1973), Ottmani held senior official positions in the Moroccan public administration, particularly in the Departments of Public Works and Transportation. He was Transportation Planning Director for a long period, before becoming Secretary General of the Ministry of Transports.
SagesseSagesse (literal trans. "Wisdom") is a volume of French poetry by Paul Verlaine. First published in 1881 (see 1880), it was important in the symbolist and modernist movements. The subject matter of these poems deals with themes relating to maturing. The poems contained in this volume include: Beauté des femmes. Bon chevalier masqué. C'est la fête du blé, c'est la fête du pain. Désormais le Sage, puni. Du fond du grabat. Écoutez la chanson bien douce. Et j'ai revu l'enfant unique : il m'a semblé.
Djelloul BenkalfateDjelloul Benkalfate, also spelt as Djelloul Benkalfat, (1903–1989) was an Algerian educator, socialist, writer, and musician. He was an active member in many organisations working for human rights, democracy and justice. Moreover, he participated in the creation of the "Universite Populaire de Tlemcen" (People's University of Tlemcen), of which he was director from 1952 to 1962. Benkalfate was born in 1903 in Tlemcen into a family of Turkish origin. After completing his primary education, he studied at the Ecole Normale de Bouzarea and graduated in 1924.
François BonFrançois Bon, born on 22 May 1953 in Luçon, is a French writer and translator. François Bon published his first novel in 1982, Sortie d'usine. He then earned a creative residency at the Villa Médicis in 1984, and has since worked in literature, as a writer, translator, performer or publisher. François Bon has written essays, novels, radio programs, poetry as well as theatre or children's literature. In 2010, he began a series of translations of novels and essays by the American author H.
Le Grelle familyThe Le Grelle family is a family of imperial, Dutch, Papal, and Belgian nobility. The Le Grelle lineage began with Jean in 1586 in Mainvault, near Ath. In 1670, Guillaume Le Grelle (1646-1724), a native of Ath (Hainault), the great-grandson of Jean, was received as a bourgeois in the city of Antwerp. His son François, a textile merchant, is the common ancestor of the noble branches. The two eldest sons of François Le Grelle, Guillaume-François and Jean-François, took their first successful steps in the field of international trade in the early 18th century.
Architecture of ParisThe city of Paris has notable examples of architecture of every period, from the Middle Ages to the 21st century. It was the birthplace of the Gothic style, and has important monuments of the French Renaissance, Classical revival, the Flamboyant style of the reign of Napoleon III, the Belle Époque, and the Art Nouveau style. The great Exposition Universelle (1889) and 1900 added Paris landmarks, including the Eiffel Tower and Grand Palais.
Glossary of French criminal lawThis glossary of French criminal law is a list of explanations or translations of contemporary and historical concepts of criminal law in France. This glossary includes terms from criminal law under the legal system in France. Legal terms from other countries that use French language (Belgium, Canada, Switzerland, North Africa, etc.) are not included here. Terms from the French civil code (known as the Napoleonic code) and from French administrative law are generally not included, unless they have repercussions for criminal law.
Michel HenryMichel Henry (ɑ̃ʁi; 10 January 1922 – 3 July 2002) was a French philosopher, phenomenologist and novelist. He wrote five novels and numerous philosophical works. He also lectured at universities in France, Belgium, the United States, and Japan. Michel Henry was born in Haiphong, French Indochina (now Vietnam), and he lived in French Indochina until he was seven years old. Following the death of his father, who was an officer in the French Navy, he and his mother settled in metropolitan France.
History of ParisThe oldest traces of human occupation in Paris are human bones and evidence of an encampment of hunter-gatherers dating from about 8000 BC, during the Mesolithic period. Between 250 and 225 BC, the Parisii, a sub-tribe of the Celtic Senones, settled on the banks of the Seine, built bridges and a fort, minted coins, and began to trade with other river settlements in Europe. In 52 BC, a Roman army led by Titus Labienus defeated the Parisii and established a Gallo-Roman garrison town called Lutetia.
Danielle BleitrachDanielle Bleitrach (born 1938) is a French sociologist and journalist. From the 1970s through the end of the century, she was CNRS researcher and lecturer at the Aix-Marseille University, focusing on the sociology of the working class and urbanization. From 1981 to 1996 she was a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of France, then the National Committee of the Party. She was also assistant editor-in-chief of the party weekly Révolution. She has contributed to La Pensée, Les Temps Modernes and Le Monde Diplomatique.
